Trolling attachment for boats



3, 1955 E. M. GREENLEE 2,715,884

TROLLING ATTACHMENT FOR BOATS Filed Nov. 21, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. Emu. M. GQEEMLEE Aug. 23, 1955 E. M. GREENLEE 2,715,884

TROLL-INC ATTACHMENT FOR BOATS I Filed NOV. 21, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.3

IN VEN TOR.

Emu. M. Gnaeuuze United States Patent TROLLING A'ITACHNIENT F OR BOATS Earl M. Greenlee, Somerset, Ky.

Application November 21, 1952, Serial No. 321,841

2 Claims. (Cl. 115-29) This invention relates to a device attachable to the stern board of a small boat, to provide a manually operable trolling attachment.

Among the important objects of the invention are the following:

First, to provide a device of the type stated which will be noiseless in operation, thus to permit use of the same during trolling, without danger of frightening the fish;

Second, to provide a trolling attachment which can be mounted upon the stern board or transom of a small boat in a minimum amount of time;

Third, to provide a trolling attachment which can be manufactured at relatively low cost;

Fourth, to provide a trolling attachment Which will be so mounted as to be usable not only as a propulsion device for the boat, but also as a tiller or steering aid; and

Fifth, to provide a trolling attachment which will include a pair of blades normally spring tensioned to spring into an approximately coplanar relation, thus to form a paddle, said blades being swingable to another position when resistance is encountered by the water, thus to feather the paddle and assure forward motion of the boat.

Other objects will appear from the following description, the claims appended thereto, and from the annexed drawings, in which like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a trolling attachment formed in accordance with the present invention, a boat being illustrated fragmentarily, the dotted lines showing a second position of the trolling attachment;

Figure 2 is a top plan View;

Figure 3 is a rear elevational View taken from the right of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is an enlarged, detail sectional view taken on line 44 of Figure 3, showing the arrangement whereby the device is connected to the boat; and

Figure 5 is an enlarged transverse sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Figure 3.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the reference numeral has been applied generally to a conventionally designed small boat. The boat 10, as is usual, is provided with a stern board or transom, and the invention includes a C-clamp 12 adapted to straddle said transom. The C-clamp 12 is provided with a clamping screw 14 capable of being manually operated for the purpose of aflixing the clamp securely, but nevertheless releasably, to the portion of the boat straddled thereby.

Fixedly secured to the C-clamp is a hinge leaf of inverted L shape, said hinge leaf being designated by the reference numeral 16 and being provided, at one end, with a hinge sleeve 18 (Figure 3). A horizontally disposed hinge pin 20 extends through the sleeve 18, and

: versely of the bar.

'ice

also through hinge sleeves 22 disposed at opposite sides of the sleeve 18 and aligned coaxially with said sleeve 18.

The sleeves 22 are integral or otherwise rigid with the upper edge of a swingable sleeve support plate 24, the plate 24 being thus mounted upon the clamp for swinging movement on a horizontal axis.

The plate 24, as shown in Figure 4, is formed, intermediate the opposite sides thereof, with a smooth Walled opening 26 receiving a stud or bolt 28 projecting from a boss 30 integral with the midlength portion of an open ended sleeve 32. A nut is applied to the stud 28 to secure the sleeve 32 against accidental separation from its associated plate 24.

Extending through the sleeve 32, and freely rotatable within said sleeve, is an elongated, tubular bar 34 the upper end of which is extended angularly as at 36 (Figure 1). The end portion 36 of the bar 34, in this regard, provides a handle capable of being manually grasped by the user, the handle being fitted with a rubber grip 38.

The construction so far illustrated and described is one that permits the bar 34 to be pivotally mounted upon the boat, intermediate the opposite ends of said bar, for rocking movement about an axis extending trans- Thus, the bar can, in one position thereof, be disposed in the full line position shown in Figure 1. Alternatively, the bar can be rocked about the pivot axis 20 to the dotted line position shown in Figure 1. In operation of the device, the user would rock the bar 34 between the two positions shown in Figure 1, in a manner to be discussed in greater detail hereinafter.

It may also be noted that the bar 34 can be rotated within the sleeve 32, the rotation of the bar being car- I ried out either independently of or in conjunction with the rocking movement of the bar about the pivot axis 29. The rotation of the bar is for the purpose of steering the boat.

Further, the bar can be adjusted longitudinally of the sleeve 32, and to this end, a series of openings 40 is formed in the bar, said openings being spaced longitudinally of the bar. Any of these openings can be used to receive a cotter pin 42 that bears upon the upper end of the sleeve 32.

Fixedly attached to the lower end of the bar 34 is a paddle support plate 44, said plate being of elongated, relatively narrow formation. The plate 44, at its upper end, is integrally formed with a rearwardly directed, horizontally disposed extension 46, said extension being cut away at opposite sides thereof, as at 47 (see Figure 2).

At its free end, the extension 46 is integrally formed with a depending lip 49.

Integrally formed upon the lower end of the plate 44 is a rearwardly directed lower extension 48, the extension 48 and extension 46 cooperating to provide bearing support members for the opposite ends of parallel pivot bolts 52.

The plate 44, in this connection, is removably but fixedly secured to the lower end of the bar 34, by bolts 50, to which Wing nuts are applied.

The bolts 52 are disposed in parallelism with the longitudinal center line of the bar 34, and are extended through sleeves 54 formed upon the inner edges of a pair of flat plates or blades 56, integrally formed with crossed, stamped-out reinforcing ribs 57.

The blades 56 are thus mounted for swinging movement about axes paralleling the longitudinal center line of the bar 34, the blades swinging between the positions shown in full and dotted lines in Figure 2 or in Figure 5. The hinges of the blades, it should be noted, can be either single or double. 7

t) In oneposition to which the plates swing, they are disposed in coplanar relation, this position being shown in full lines in Figures 2 and 5. The plates or blades 56 are normally urged to this position, by a spring 58 line, coplanar position thereof is precluded by engagement of the blades against the opposite side edges of thepaddle support plate 44. I p

I When the plates are swung in an opposite direction, they move into parallel planes, as shownin dotted lines in Figures 2 and 5 respectively. In this position of the blades, the blades are limited against further swinging movement toward one another by the lip 49, which provides a stop. v e H In use of the device, theblades 56 will normally be swung to the full line positions thereof shown in the drawings. The user now grasps the handle 36, and pulls the same toward himself. This causes the lower end of the bar 34 to be swung away from the boat 10, and as a result, the boat will move forwardly, since the blades 56 will cooperate to provide a paddle. When the bar 34 is being swung from the dotted line position shown in Figure 1, back to the full line position, the blades 56 will be swung inwardly toward one another, into parallel relation, against the restraining action of the spring 58. The blades 56 will be swung to parallel position by pressure of the water, during movement of the bar 34 from the full to the dotted line position shown in the drawings.

7 Thus, the paddle defined by the blades will be in effect feathered, thereby to assure proper operation of the trolling attachment without possibility of the boat being propelled in a reverse direction. Of course, the boat can be effectively steered by rotationof the bar 34 to a selected position within the sleeve t It will be seen from the construction illustrated and described that the trolling attachment can be readily secured to a boat of the type shown in the drawings. When the attachment is mounted upon a boat, it can be operated with ease, so as to assure a desirably slow, silent, forward motion of the boat during the trolling moved along a desired path, during said operations, thereby to promote the efiiciency of the device as a steering and propulsion means for small boats.

It is believed apparent that the invention is not necessarily confined to the specific use or uses thereof described above, since it may be utiliied for any purpose to which it may be suited. Nor is the invention to be necessarily limited to the specific construction illustrated and described, since such construction is only 7 operations. The boat, can, as will be apparent, be

. 4- intended to be illustrative of the principles of operation and the means presently devised to carry out said principles, it being considered that the invention comprehends any minor change in construction that may be permitted within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A trolling attachment for boats comprising a' clamp detachably secured to a boat, a sleeve support plate hingedly connected to said clamp and extending exteriorly of the boat, a sleeve carried by said plate, pivot means extending transversely of said plate securing said sleeve to said plate to permit rotation of said sleeve about the transverse pivot means as an axis, an upstanding operating bar extending longitudinally through and freely rotatable in said sleeve, said bar having its upper end formed as a handle adapted to be grasped by a user for rocking the bar about said pivot means, and a pair of plates secured at the lower end of the bar for swing movement about spaced parallel axes parallel to the longitudinal center line of said bar, said plate being swingable from a position where the plates are coplanar to a position where the plates are in spaced parallel relation.

2. A trolling attachment for boats comprising a clamp detachably secured to a boat, a sleeve support plate hingedly connected to said clamp and extending exteriorly of the boat, a sleeve carried by said plate, pivot means extending transversely of said plate securing said sleeve to said plate to permit rotation of said sleeve about the transverse pivot means as an axis, an upstanding operating bar extending longitudinally through and freely rotatable in said sleeve, said bar having its upper end formed as a handle adapted to be grasped by a user for rocking the bar about said pivot means, and a pair of plates secured at the lower end of the bar for swinging movement about spaced parallel axes parallel to the longitudinal center line of said bar, said plate being swingable from a position where the plates are coplanar to a position where the plates are in spaced parallel relation, and spring means connected at its 0pposite ends to respective plates and tensioned about said bar to normally urge said plates to their coplanar relation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 502,061 Ambler n July 25, 1893 849,533 Dziedzic Apr. 9, 1907 1,197,239 Sinclair Sept. 5, 1916 1,208,063 White Dec. 12, 1916 1,801,612 Pierce Apr. 21, 1931 2,507,469 Hanson May 9, 1950 2,631,559 Jones Mar. 17, 1953 

